Nightfall
by Achariyth1
Summary: In the days after the Fall of the Hakurei Barrier, Momiji struggles with her new civilian life.  Meanwhile, Nitori has been making plans of her own.  Part of the Clockwork Devils cycle and a parallel sequel to Look to the Eastern Sky.


**Nightfall**

A tale of the Clockwork Devils

A Touhou Project fanfic written by Achariyth

**Disclaimer:** Touhou Project belongs to ZUN and Team Shanghai Alice. I own nothing, and I will remove this work of fiction from any site I can upon a request from ZUN or his legal representatives. I also request that any site that posts this work agree to do the same.

_This story begins the second of the parallel sequels to "Look to the Eastern Sky" and assumes some familiarity with that work and "In Visible Light."_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter One - The Time Between<strong>

For all of Momiji Inubashiri's life before the Fall of the Hakurei Barrier, she had stood by her honor and her fellow soldiers. Now all the newly civilian Momiji could stand by was the bottle by her side, and that for only as long as the amber liquid remained. She downed the bottle and flung it against the wall of her room, where the remnants fell on a gravel-like layer of broken glass.

"Go away. I don't want to talk," Momiji said as her door opened. She groped for another bottle of white lightning. She smiled, holding up a clear glass bottle.

"What if I do?"

Momiji scowled and turned her head. "Hello, Nitori," she drawled.

The _kappa_ wrinkled her nose as she stepped inside, her cane clicking against the ground with each step. "When was the last time you left here?"

The wolf _tengu_ sighed. "Everyone else would rather I stay inside." A veteran of the Fall, _tengu_ society had blamed her for the deaths, destruction, and disappearances of that day. "At least this way, I don't have to see everyone's stares."

Nitori leaned against her cane. Eying the floor and the stained couch, she shook her head and rested against the wall. "What do they know? None of them were there." Like Momiji, the _kappa_ had fought that day and still bore her scars.

"You know it doesn't work that way." A claw shredded the bottle's wax seal. Momiji held the bottle out towards Nitori.

The inventor shook her head. "I'll pass. Eirin told me that alcohol doesn't play well with her medicines."

Momiji shrugged as she took a long pull from the bottle. Gasping, she frowned as she spilled her drink on the towel wrapped around her body. "More for me, then. Of course, there's not much else for me to do here."

"Slipping down the ladder of society rung by rung?" Nitori sighed. She winced as her leg jerked.

Momiji laughed. "Rather poetic for an engineer."

"I've been hanging around Byakuren and Patchouli lately."

"What are you doing around those two?"

Nitori held her hand out. "Come with me and find out. It's better than rotting in here."

Momiji narrowed her eyes as she sipped the rotgut. "I wouldn't want people think that I'm running away from my problems."

"I thought that's what you're doing right now," the inventor said. She leveled a steady glare at the wolf _tengu_. She had never seen the normally clean-cut wolf with matted and tangled hair. "With everything that's happened, I could really use someone I trust to watch my back. I thought she could be you."

"You're offering me a job?" Momiji laughed, spilling more of her drink.

Nitori sighed. "I'll leave you alone if you have better things to do. I just hope that it's something besides crawling further into the bottle. If you feel up to it, you know where to find me." The _kappa_ turned to leave.

Momiji sat up straight. "You won't stay?"

"I have physical therapy. Eirin still hasn't figured out everything that the ember did to me. Take care." With those words, the _kappa _walked outside. The door closed gently behind her.

The wolf _tengu _slumped against her seat. Sitting in silence, she watched light play through the bottle of popskull rotgut, waiting for the silent augury to run its course.

"Ah, hell," she murmured, upending the bottle. She wrinkled her nose as the liquor splashed against the floor. Letting her towel fall to the ground, she walked towards her bathtub.

* * *

><p>Inside a large tent that covered the Hakurei shrine's polished stone foundation. Patchouli Knowledge stood in front of a large unfurled roll of paper. An irregular five-point star adorned one side of the paper. Her finger trained lines through a thick column of dense script. "Nitori," she called out.<p>

The _kappa _shuffled over, leaving Byakuren and three Koakumas huddled over a codex in the tent's corner. "More math?" Patchouli knew her way around the algebra needed for complex alchemy, but the calculus used in advanced energy flow studies bored her. The elementalist nodded. Nitori slid a pen from her sleeve, pursed her lips and added her own column of figures and equations. Occasionally consulting one of a series of books full of data tables, she finally teased out the answer.

"I told you that the lore was correct," she said, tracing a spiral out from the center of the misshapen star. "The best time is at the transitions between day and night." The lore insisted on using the term "the time between times." Diligent research from the Koakumas identified that as twilight, the time of the day that was neither day nor night, yet held elements of both.

"We tried that," Patchouli said.

"We just threw rocks at the ley focus," Nitori said. "We haven't tried anything else. The lore of your ancestors must have some way of activating ley travel."

Patchouli glowered. "I'm not Celtic. Besides, you're the one with the Latin name, not me."

"Whatever," Nitori shrugged. The elementalist protested too much, she thought. "Koa?"

"Yes?" the three devils chorused.

"Is anyone outside?"

"Oh, you're waiting for your cat?" Patchouli said. She picked up a thick tome, opening it where a red ribbon marked her place. The magician tended to call guards and thieves "cats" and "rats."

"I think Momiji wouldn't like being called a cat. How would you like to be called 'Patty?'" Nitori said, sitting on a nearby stool.

"Try it." Patchouli flashed her white teeth in an expression nothing like a smile. "Cat or rat terrier, I hope she keeps the mice away."

"Even Nazrin?" the shortest of the Koakumas asked. Muttering dire imprecations against literalists, Patchouli held her open book between herself and the rest of the world.

A bell rang outside. The tent flap flipped open, and Momiji stepped inside. With the exception of missing insignia devices, she still looked like the smartly dressed sergeant she once was. Nitori smiled. "Glad you made it."

Momiji nodded and then cocked her head. Pointing towards a flickering gold flame, like an ember beginning to catch fire, she spoke, "That was at the shrine the entire time? How did we miss it?"

"That's part of what we're studying," Patchouli said.

Nitori winced as she remembered being trapped within the strange energies. "That's the focus for the ley lines here."

"Is it dangerous?" Momiji said. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the area nearby.

"Yes," Patchouli said. "Which is why we keep people away."

"Is there anything else I need to look out for?" Momiji asked. Nitori and Patchouli eyed each other and nodded in unison. "Can someone show me?" Patchouli waved at a passing Koakuma, who led the wolf through the tent.

* * *

><p>Fairy maids scurried around the shrine grounds, pulling ropes and hoisting metal rods into the air. Three days after Momiji started her patrols, Patchouli decided to replace the clustered tents with one single big top.<p>

"Carefully!" Momiji bellowed, directing fairies as they hoisted the tent upright.

"Momiji!" a Koakuma called out. The little devil rushed towards the wolf and grabbed her hand.

Momiji's eyes narrowed as the Koakuma pulled her towards the edge of the field. The wolf found herself running for the first time in weeks. As her legs protested, she asked, "What's wrong?"

Even over the pounding of her heart, the wolf heard a familiar voice. "So, is it true you can see ley lines?"

"Aya," Momiji groaned. She ran faster, until she saw Nitori backing away from the crow.

"Really, there's no need to be shy about it," the crow _tengu_ reporter said, holding her pen against an open notebook. She flashed a smile at the retreating _kappa_.

Momiji slowed down long enough to catch her breath before slipping between the reporter and her prey. "I'm sorry, but all requests for interviews have to be approved by our Public Affairs Officer."

Aya smirked. "And that would be?"

Momiji spoke before Nitori could open her mouth. "Me."

The corners of Aya's eyes lifted in a genuine smile. "Let me guess, you want the request in writing with triplicate copies so it will be even more mysterious how my request suddenly got lost. Come on, Momiji, we both know how this game's played. Just let me ask a few questions. Off the record, of course."

Momiji rolled her eyes at the ancient reporter's lie. Anything she said could find its way into Aya's paper, on the record or off. "I'm thinking of letting Hatate have exclusive story rights. Off the record, of course."

Aya's smile fell. "Really, you want to play it like that?"

Momiji turned towards the center of the camp. "Koa!" The three devils came running. "Can you find Hatate for me?"

"Fine. Don't think we're through, though," Aya said, shaking her head. "After all, there're so many people who want to know all about what you did during the Fall." The crow's voice dropped low and cold.

Momiji's face grew taut. "And they can read all about from Hatate if a certain reporter doesn't quickly leave the premises." She checked the watch on her wrist. "Like, say, in five seconds-"

"Be that way."

"Four-"

Aya launched herself into the air in a huff. A gust of wind marked her passing, billowing through Momiji's cloak and skirts.

"-three. Good, she's gone," Momiji said. The wolf smiled as she turned towards Nitori. "Are you okay?"

The _kappa_ nodded. "She caught me off guard."

"She's good at that," Momiji said, scanning the skies. Curiosity overwhelmed her. "So, is it true?"

Nitori shook her head and sighed. "Yes, I can see ley lines. I'd give it all up, though, if Eirin would stop poking and prodding me."

"Is it really that bad?"

"Just tiring. She's trying to help, but this is the first time she's treated anyone that got trapped inside a ley focus. We still don't everything it did. Enough about me, though, so what's been bothering you, Momiji?"

"Let's talk about something else," the wolf said.

"'Sorrow shared is sorrow divided,'" Nitori recited.

Momiji winced. "Maybe later. I need to go back to work."

"Doesn't it ever get lonely out there?"

The wolf shrugged. "It's what you pay me for."

"I guess. You want to play a game of _shogi_ tonight," Nitori said. Momiji nodded, her smile growing wide and genuine. The inventor sighed as the wolf disappeared. "I wish she'd talk about her problems, just once."

* * *

><p>Momiji sat at her table and stared at the large goblet before her. The red wine called to her. A week in Nitori's employ had generated enough cash that the wolf could now drink herself senseless with something palatable for a change.<p>

She had not touched alcohol since Nitori first offered her a job. Babysitting Gensokyo's brain trust proved to be uneventful and boring. Not the passive lay about boring typical of having nothing to do, but the trapped boring of the condemned soul forced to listen to babble she could not understand, or worse, when she did, she didn't care to. Now the desire for drink wore Momiji like a second skin.

If it had been anyone other than Nitori, Momiji would have quietly slipped away from her job, never to return. But the _tengu_ soldier and the _kappa _engineer had fought and bled together, cementing in blood an already fast friendship. Besides, to whom else could Momiji go for a calming game of _shogi?_

She still saw the stares, even behind closed eyes. _Tengu_, _youkai_, and humans, each worried about uncertain futures and all looking for someone to blame. Momiji wanted to shout to the world that they were blaming the wrong _tengu_. Aya had led the Blue Djinn to Gensokyo; Momiji had done her damnedest to send him away.

"Your job is to die by arrow or sword so that some civilian doesn't have to," Momiji murmured a quote from an ancient speech, given by a crusty old sergeant major who had fought his way across the world since before the first time Suwako wore diapers. True to her task, Momiji's squad had fought the Djinn, some even dying, yet not a single civilian perished in that attack. Sure, no one had seen Reimu, Marisa, or Yukari, but those troublemakers meddled in so many fights that it was hard not to think of them as warriors. Yet, even with light losses, the second part of the speech held true.

"You will lay your life on the line for people who won't understand your sacrifice. In time, they will resent you. Yet you will stay true to your duty."

Momiji would have done so; had not that mangy cur of a commander ran her out of Lord Tenma's warband. The old sergeant major had never said what she should stay true to when it was all gone.

At least the wine hid the stares. The job, on the other hand, dragged Momiji past them. Sure, Byakuren was pleasant enough, and Nitori was the candid, if shy, friend that she always was. However, Patchouli was distant, and kept rankling Momiji's pride. Even the most timid and beaten wolf took umbrage at being called a cat. The Koakumas were pleasant tricksters, if not quite as bored as Momiji. All of them understood what had happened when the barrier Fell. However, boredom bred meditation, and meditation, obsession.

Eyes followed Momiji wherever she went, even in her mind's eye. She walked through a constant loud of silent accusations. Yet wine hid the stares, even if she could not drink on duty. But duty brought condemnation, and the tired wolf could not live with the stares.

She'd tell Nitori that she was quitting in the morning.

Momiji slumped over the table and snored. The goblet resting next to her held only a small film of red.

* * *

><p>Momiji trudged her way under the sun towards the researchers' tent. She had tried to find Nitori all morning to tender her resignation, but the <em>kappa<em> proved elusive, bustling around in preparation for yet another of the inventor's schemes.

"Momiji!" the _kappa_ called, rushing out of the tent. "Watch this!" She danced a little jig before tripping into the _tengu's_ arms. The inventor laughed freely, her eyes shining in the sunlight.

"What happened?" The wolf smiled in spite of her mood.

"Eirin started me on a heavy vitamin regimen. Also, she told me to 'do _kappa_ things.'"

Momiji froze, her smile growing strained. While it was great to see the _kappa_ without her cane or her spasms, giving any member of a race that built giant robots for fun free reign to follow her wildest dreams was tantamount to handing a young child lit matches and fireworks. Someone was bound to get burned. At least the child would not burn down the entire island with a wink and a smile.

Nitori pulled out a piece of paper. "Look, Eirin even wrote me a prescription."

Momiji read the paper and felt the blood drain from her face. Sure enough, the words "do _kappa _things" adorned the page. "Please tell me she at least told you what kind of things she meant."

"She was rather non-specific in her answer," Nitori said, grabbing the wolf's hand. "But once I came back and tinkered at my workbench for a while, I started feeling better. Now I don't need my cane."

"Nice," Momiji said. She had received the field first aid classes, but anything more complex had never been her strong suit. The wolf just hoped Eirin knew what she was doing.

"Oh, before I forget, let's go inside. I've got something to show you," Nitori said, pulling Momiji towards the tent.

"But-" At some time, the wolf would have to tender her resignation.

"Relax, I promise this won't be like the time that Renata lost her eyebrows," Nitori said, laughing. Earlier that year, Momiji had helped Nitori and her _kappa_ co-conspirator, Renata, with a machine that looked suspiciously like a still. They had been a bit careless and the result shot upwards, singeing Renata's eyebrows and burning a hole in the workshop's roof. "Do you remember when all those evil spirits came welling up from the underground?"

"Which time?" Spirits often swarmed across Gensokyo like locusts.

"When we found out about the Old Hell."

Momiji shook her head. While Reimu and Marisa broke into the Abandoned Hell, she had patrolled the mountain, dealing with any spirit that she came across. Following Nitori, she ducked into the tent. "I didn't meet Lady Satori until later, but Reimu did tell some stories about that day over tea at her shrine." Momiji winced at the thought of the missing priestess.

Nitori stepped behind a table. With a flourish, she pulled a white cloth away, revealing two palm-sized purple orbs. "Did she tell you about these?"

"You're not going to try to tell my fortune, are you?" Momiji said, poking one of the glass spheres.

"Not at all," Nitori said, picking an orb in each hand. "Back during the Old Hell incident, I used one to talk to Marisa."

"So, that's like the walkie-talkies that you, Sanae, and I played with until the batteries died?"

Nitori nodded. "Exactly."

"Why haven't I seen these in the markets then? I'm sure they'd sell like wildfire," Momiji said, picking up an orb and eying it.

"I didn't make it," Nitori said. She raised her sphere to her lips. "It's Yukari's magic, not my skill." Momiji's orb echoed the inventor's words.

The wolf grimaced, setting her orb down on the table. "Now you tell me."

The _kappa_ shrugged. "I forgot all about mine until Patchouli found hers. Don't look at me like that; a lot's happened since that day."

"Fair enough." Momiji sighed. It would be best to get the unpleasantness over. "Listen, Nitori-"

The inventor rolled her orb around her palm in circles. "These will be perfect for what we're going to do next. Okay, so we haven't figured out how Yukari managed to get video on these, but they'll let us keep in touch with Patchouli."

"Wait, you're going somewhere?" Momiji said. Curiosity quickly replaced her desire to bear bad news.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. The Koas found the key, Momiji," Nitori said, quivering and smiling. Momiji's eyes glazed over as the kappa engineer rattled off a lengthy explanation of numerical significance in sacred ritual. Apparently, the Celts held the number three in high regard, but Momiji tried to block out anything more before she succumbed to the temptation of gnawing off an arm to escape the magical technobabble. Despite her attempts, a phrase or two passed her guard.

"Say that again."

"We're going to use the shrine's ley focus to travel. That's really why I asked you to join us. 'The more alone you are, the more you need someone you trust to watch your back.'"

The turn of phrase sounded familiar. "Has Patchouli been passing around her storybooks again?" Momiji smiled. The elementalist might be brusque, but she had impeccable taste in books.

Nitori shrugged. "Could be. Maybe that's why she started experimenting with metal magic. Anyway, all our work here is leading up to using ley lines to travel. And if I go, we can even make a map for future ley travelers."

"I wish I knew about this," Momiji said. The idea sounded fun, but the flask of liquor at her hip called out to her. "I need a moment or two to think it over."

"It'll be fun. Think of it as a road trip, just with a new type of road."

"Why can't I get the words 'guinea pig' out of my mind?" Momiji deadpanned.

"You know me too well."

"I just need some to think and prepare-" the wolf held up her hand before Nitori could speak. "-if I do agree to go."

Nitori nodded and smiled. "Just let me know before sunset. I'll be leaving then."

* * *

><p>The chill evening wind buffeted through Momiji's cloak. She looked again to the east where thick greying walls of clouds collided on the horizon. The storm would likely hit in the morning. At least she'd miss the worst of the rain if Nitori's crazy scheme panned out.<p>

Momiji adjusted the fit of the rucksack on her shoulders. She had headed straight to her house and packed a travel kit while pondering her choices. To Momiji's surprise, she required no soul searching to make her decision. Nitori's journey satisfied the demands of a purpose of a mission and of the overwhelming urge to flee the silent accusations that haunted her.

With the sun dropping toward the horizon, she walked the path from the mountain to the ruined shrine, still carrying a sense of unease. The former sergeant swore that someone was watching her. Time and again, Momiji thought she caught a sure sign of her suspicion only to have shadows and sounds vanish like the last whiff of a burning candle as it faded in the wind.

Years of training asserted itself. The wolf hiked circles through the underbrush, hoping to double back and catch a sign of her follower, but she never did. Either she was leaping at shadows like a cub or her pursuer was damned good. Neither thought brought comfort.

A shadow moved in Momiji's peripheral vision. She tensed, and then froze as a hand snaked across her waist, while a second covered her mouth. Her eyes widened as she rode the wave of fear and shock. She mentally kicked herself. She should never have been caught. Channeling her fear and embarrassment into anger, Momiji waited, eyeing the small group of men in black and red that now encircled her.

"Begging your pardon, Mistress Wolf," a calm, clear voice breathed in her ear. "We seek no quarrel with you, but we do have business nearby that we'd rather not be interrupted. I would request that you kindly remain here with one of my men until it is concluded. You have my word that you will be treated as a distinguished guest."

Momiji sank her teeth into his hand. The man bellowed as she shook her head, ripping his flesh open. Blood welled in the wolf's mouth, and she choked down the instinctual urge to rend and feed. Momiji spat out the hand. Her attacker clutched his wounds until her fierce kick sent him sprawling.

Rearing back her head, Momiji let loose the blood-chilling howl of the wolf _tengu_. The wail checked the squad of burly men before they could surround her, letting her escape down the road. As a quick-thinking sergeant bellowed orders behind her, Momiji shed her pack. The sergeant she used to be knew that speed was life. The weight would only slow her down.

Hearing the heavy footfalls of boots on gravel, Momiji tossed a spell card over her shoulders. Danmaku sparked across the roadway, putting more space between the wolf and her pursuers. As her heart pounded, thought, instinct, and training blurred together. She needed help, needed to help her friends, needed to run away, needed to warn them.

Baying every time a foot hit the ground, she ran until the shrine grounds appeared, stepping aside as more black and red men surrounded the tent, wielding clubs. Momiji found a crater torn out by the Blue Djinn's earlier attack and rolled inside. Keeping low to the earth, she lifted her head just high enough that her eyes cleared the rim. A quick count found two dozen or so assailants ringing the tents. Occasionally, Momiji could see an unfamiliar emblem that resembled a butterfly over an eight-spoked wheel.

Two Koakumas stepped out of the tent. Both wore identical smirks as they stood in front of the doorway, their arms crossed beneath their breasts.

One of the soldiers stepped forward. The idiot actually wore a banner with the butterfly and wheel emblem hanging from a pole strapped to his back. Momiji pegged him as an officer. No self-respecting sergeant who wanted to die in bed would wear such a showy piece of arrow bait.

"In the name of Clan Soga, we have come to take the Abbess Hijiri into custody," the man announced in a clear voice not unlike a town crier's.

The Koakuma on the right flashed her teeth. "She says she's washing her hair."

"We're not leaving without the abbess. Let us go through, and we might just be content to take only her."

"Go away while we feel like letting you leave," the left Koakuma added. Momiji found this odd. Koakumas were seductresses, not fighters. Even Cirno's fairy pals could fly and fight circles around one. The Koakuma on the right smiled and vanished…

…and on the edge of the ring of soldiers, one cried out as a man sharing the same uniform decked him. The attacking soldier vanished, and a woman in a black miniskirt appeared where the Koakuma once stood. Nue Houjuu shook her hand before summoning her trident.

The second Koakuma vanished as well, revealing a busty bespectacled _tanuki_. She smiled and flicked something with her fingers. Two mirror images appeared next to her, and all three flung danmaku at crowded mass of men.

The soldiers rushed the tent. The _tanuki_, Mamizou Futatsuiwa, flattened anything that came within her reach, while Nue became chaos in flesh. One moment, she appeared as a taunting Nue, next, as a Soga lieutenant calling out the retreat, after that, Byakuren in her full fury. The nue flowed from form to form, sowing confusion and spitting danmaku as she ran throughout the shrine grounds.

"There she is!" The shout came from behind Momiji. The wolf threw herself over the crater's edge and rolled to her feet. Sprinting towards the tent with four soldiers on her heels, she clotheslined a fifth Soga as she ran past him.

"It's me," Momiji bellowed as she ran. One of the_ tanuki's_ reflections noticed her and cleared a path with thick clouds of danmaku. Soldiers dove to either side; Momiji grazed her way through the dense shot. She took her place between two of the now ten images of the tanuki.

A club lashed out at her skull. Momiji leaned back and caught the weapon near the end of the handle. Smashing her free hand into the wielder's elbow, she wrenched the weapon free and rammed the length of wood into the Soga's gut before crowning him with his own club.

"Where are the others?" she asked the images, hoping to find the one that was the source of all the reflections. One pointed to the tent. The flap opened, and flame jetted out, sending soldiers diving for cover. Patchouli had finally joined the fight.

Using the club, Momiji threw crippling shots towards her enemies' legs before laying them out with blows to the head. Four soldiers that had weaved through the_ tanuki's_ danmaku, Patchouli's elemental rains, and Nue's capricious chaos now rested in crumpled heaps at Momiji's feet. The fifth, however, parried her first, low stroke. Momiji growled as she settled into the deadly business of doing violence unto others first.

* * *

><p>"Koakuma, get Byakuren out of here," Patchouli called out. She knelt by the big top's entrance, rows of cards arrayed on the ground before her. She tapped one, and a wall of windblown sand sheared through the foemen's haggard ranks. Outside, the winds howls turned to shrieks, as did the cries from the Soga.<p>

Nitori tossed as many books and notes into a large rucksack as she could reach. Pulling the straps tight, she lifted the bundle and winced. The sack dropped onto a table, and the _kappa_ stuffed papers into a smaller backpack.

"I'll take that," Byakuren said, slipping her arms in between the straps.

"But-" Nitori protested, reaching for the bag.

"The bag's not designed for Koakuma's wings. I can handle it; it is the least I can do. You need to worry about yourself for a change."

"I'll be safe at the mountain," Nitori said. No bandit or warband dared challenge Lord Tenma on the _tengu_ lord's own lands.

The abbess shook her head and pointed to the ember. "It's still twilight. We don't know if we'll still be able to get back here in the morning. How much work have we put into this experiment? When those soldiers find out that they can't catch me, they'll burn whatever they find as a mischief against me. I'm sure of that."

Canvas tore as Momiji fell through the tent's side. The wolf flailed free from the cloth and pounced unarmed onto the back of the wiry Soga who had followed her through the hole.

"Get out of here," she bellowed. The wolf grunted as the soldier pulled her to the ground. The two fighters rolled around, flowing through a series of holds and counters as each sought the advantage over the other. Other Soga warrior brave enough to slip past Mamizou and Nue crowded the tent's new entrance. A torrent of water swept them back outside.

Nitori grit her teeth as the spell card burned in her hand. An iron grip pulled on her leg as Momiji and her foe tumbled past. As the _kappa_ fell on her face, the spell card and the torrent both vanished into the ether.

Byakuren adjusted the last of the rucksack's straps tight against her body before volleying dense clouds of danmaku through the unguarded opening. "Koa!"

The devil's heart fell as Patchouli tumbled backwards. Fire and danmaku burst through the door, licking at the edges of the cloth walls. The Soga had finally gotten their own magicians into the fray. Koakuma stepped towards her mistress, but Byakuren pulled at her arm. "We need to leave." She pointed to where entire panels of the big top glowed yellow. "The sooner we leave, the sooner she'll be able to as well."

Nitori found her feet in time to scramble out of the way, as the wiry Soga reached for her again.

"Go!" Momiji grunted as she threw the Soga over her shoulder. The wolf rolled to her feet and shoved the Soga into the ground with her boot.

The _kappa_ pursed her lips and nodded. Turning towards the ember-like ley focus, she shrieked as the canvas tent burst into a maelstrom of flame. Steam hissed as Patchouli threw deluges into the swirling winds and intense heat.

Byakuren caught Nitori's eye. "This might be your only chance." With those words, she shot straight up through a gap in the inferno with Koakuma in tow.

Struggling against wind and heat, Nitori made her way to the ley focus. Silver roads unfolded in her mind. Choosing the closest, she began the first circuit around the ember needed for travel.

The winds sucked smoke and air away from the shrine's stone foundation. Patchouli stood next to swirling walls of flame, one hand covering her mouth and pinching her nose shut. She continued to toss spell card after spell card into the fiery whirlwind.

Nitori spun through the second circuit, Patchouli vanished inside of a cloud of thick fog that resisted the inferno's attempts to disperse it. Momiji still pinned her Soga opponent to the ground with a boot on his throat. In the scarce air, Nitori beckoned the wolf to come over. Momiji ran to Nitori, but stumbled forward as the wiry Soga wrapped his arms around her waist in a diving tackle.

The inventor completed the third and find circle around the ley focus at the heart of the Hakurei Shrine. Her breath caught in her throat as she waited for fact to put to truth or the lie to theory. In front of her, Momiji lurched forward, reaching for the engineer. Nitori stretched out her hand and laced her fingers through Momiji's…

* * *

><p>…and in an instant, the world changed.<p>

Momiji stumbled against a gravestone. Her wiry opponent, still with his hands locked around her midsection, dragged her backwards. She found her balance, throwing elbows and stomping on his feet. The Soga slammed her into a gravestone. Momiji cried out as the air rushed out of her lungs. Gasping, the soldier shook her around like a rat caught in a terrier's jaws. She threw her head back. The Soga staggered as her skull smashed against his jaw.

Slipping free of his hold, Momiji spun around and slapped a glowing card against his chest. The Soga's eyes widened as magic rippled through him. He flew through the air, crumpling against a thick tree, and fell still.

"Nitori!" Momiji bellowed, spinning around. Her head swiveled, moving from stone to stone. "Where are you?"

The blue haired _kappa_ knelt, fumbling with a compass slung around her heck. The instrument kept slipping through shaking hands. Frustrated, Nitori cupped her hands and caught the bouncing compass. Flipping it open with a closed hand, she waited. Unlike her hands, the rest of her body remained still. The spasms ran their course, allowing the tinker to scribble in a notebook by her feet.

Momiji ran to her, and shook Nitori's shoulder. "Come on, we have to go."

"But there's three lines here, and-"

Momiji's eyes narrowed. "Can you still make the ley lines work?"

Nitori looked at the sky. "It's still twilight."

"Pick a direction, take a reading, and let's go."

"But-"

"You asked me to protect you. That soldier won't be out of it for much longer." She could have killed him, but if Reimu ever returned, the priestess would put her down faster than a rabid dog.

Nitori closed her eyes and pulled out Yukari's orb. "Shouldn't we call in?"

"Not enough time."

Nitori deflated. She spun around, holding the compass at her waist. Three times, she stopped her rotation just long enough for the needle to settle. As the compass settled, she etched numbers onto the back of her hand with a pen. Grabbing Momiji's hand, the _kappa_ led the _tengu_ three times around an ancient shrine…

* * *

><p>…and the world shifted.<p>

Water babbled as it fell down the hillside. In the west, the last of the day's blue light slowly turned black.

"Again."

Three trips around a small earth mound…

* * *

><p>…and night fell.<p>

Momiji found herself in front of a large glass and concrete building. Streetlights burned with a steadier glow than Gensokyo's _kappa_-built gas lamps. "Where are we?"

"If you had given me time to take all my readings, I might know," Nitori said. She pointed to an illuminated marquee filled with familiar writing. "At least we're still in Japan."

Momiji shivered in the night air. "Wherever we are, we're stuck here until morning."

Nitori frowned as she looked around. "I don't see any new ley lines here, just the one we used."

The wolf sighed and rubbed her arms. "Well, let's find shelter then."

The _kappa _inventor grinned and pulled out a short length of rolled cloth. She smoothed the fabric out against the sidewalk. Streetlight reflected off a series of rakes and picks. "I don't think that will be a problem." Nitori advanced on the nearest door with a cheerful smile of someone who enjoyed her work too much.

"Why do you have those?" Momiji asked. She hurried and stood behind Nitori, shielding the _kappa _from view.

"I was told to do _kappa _things," Nitori said, kneeling down until the lock was at eye level. Two of the hooks and rakes slipped into the keyhole. The inventor moved her tools around, feeling for the tumblers inside. "When did you become Kotohime?" The self-declared policewoman was even more insistent about rules than Reimu had been.

"You've got to be kidding. If I'd thought to bring a crowbar, this would be all over by now," Momiji said. She shivered. "Can you hurry up?"

"I'm trying. Whoever made the building actually put in real locks."

"'Real?' Is that why I'm standing out here turning into an icicle?

"If it takes longer than a minute to get through, it's a real lock," Nitori said. Leaving the pick inside the keyhole, she pulled out Yukari's orb and handed it to the _tengu_. "Try to see if they're alright."

Momiji eyed the purple sphere. "Patchouli? Are you there?"

"Momiji? Why am I hearing your voice from my doll? What are you doing with Yukari's orb?"

"Alice, it's mine," Nitori said. The lock clicked, and she pushed the door open. "Have you heard from Patchouli? Our camp got attacked."

"I'm here," the elementalist said. "Nue and Mamizou kept them busy until Shou and Nazrin drove them away. Most of our notes and charts are missing, though. Where are you?"

Momiji looked at the marquee. "Some place called Shinonome. Do you think Sanae might know where that is?" She ducked inside the doorway. The heat brought a smile to the canine's face.

Alice sighed. "Don't take this wrong, but I hoped you were Marisa."

"Alice, could you stay by your doll? We could use another mind now that Byakuren's in hiding," Patchouli said. "Momiji, Nitori, I have a fairy looking for that place now. We're short on maps until we can get back to the library, though."

Nitori snatched the orb away. "We've made a couple more ley jumps than we planned. I have some readings," she paused, glaring at Momiji. "So we should be able to find out where we're at. Be advised though, we seem to be at a terminating point for this ley line and I can't see any others around."

As the conversation drifted into matters arcane, Momiji peered around the corner. The hallway reminded her of the pictures Sanae showed of her high school, with stacks of lockers by the entrance. Past that, the hallway opened in all directions. A patchwork of paper advertisements decorated the walls in garish colors. Momiji thought the flyers advertised club activities, if she remembered Sanae's tales of the outside world correctly. If the clubs gathered people of like interests together, did that make most of the young women in Gensokyo members of the Spell Card Dueling Club?

She motioned for Nitori to follow her. The _kappa_ still chatted through Yukari's enchanted orb, but she still hurried after the _tengu_ as they passed through the halls. Momiji stopped to look through a window, but could only see her own reflection as the night had turned the glass into a mirror.

"I wonder why it does that?" she said, running her hand across the cold glass.

Nitori brightened. "Well-"

"Later, please."

The pair walked through the hall, their progress slowed by frequent investigations of strange devices and even stranger pictures. Nitori squealed as she played with a water fountain, while Momiji had to be dragged away from the kendo club's training room. Inside the chess club's classroom, the pair stopped and played a game or two. Even with the slow meander through the building, Nitori pocketed as many books as she could fit in her skirts and pack. Then she found the library.

Nitori's eyes widened in glee as she beheld the rows of bookshelves. Dashing inside, she flittered from shelf to shelf like a hummingbird between flowers.

Momiji sighed. "I guess I know where we're staying tonight." At least someone had been kind enough to provide those strange comfortable cloth covered chairs that Sanae obsessed over. Spotting a couch, she lay down and closed her eyes, keeping an ear out for the inventor's call.

A door swung open, crashing against a wall. Momiji sat upright and waited, her ears twitching. A building like this would have some sort of security force, and, while her presence would be tough to explain, Momiji's prominent wolf ears would be even more difficult to ignore. She slipped a small metal rod from her belt. With a flick of her wrist, the collapsible baton locked into its full extension. Rolling to the floor, the wolf crouched behind the couch, watching the edges of the shelves.

Something fell onto the floor like a heavy sack. Padding across the room with quick, soft steps, Momiji ducked behind the nearest bookshelf.

"Momiji! Come quick!"

The wolf winced at the sound of Nitori's voice. With any chance of stealth ruined, she walked towards Nitori's call, taking care to hide her baton between her arm and her body, praying to Suwako for Nitori's safety. "What's wrong?"

"I can't find a pulse!"

Momiji swore and bounded through the room until she crouched next to Nitori. The _kappa_ knelt by a supine figure, compressing the chest with short, quick pulses.

A shiver ran up Momiji's spine and she choked back a growl. Pursing her lips, Nitori worked to save a tall statuesque woman with flowing pale blue dressed in ragged black and purple. The wolf sniffed the air. The smell of death failed to assault her nose; the mystery woman could still be saved. "What can I-?"

Momiji froze as her intuition screamed at her. Opening her mind to her senses, she breathed in and eyed the woman in black. It was if some warning hid itself at the edge of her mind, like the barest hint of a day-old trail hidden by the scent of a new rain.

Smell! The wolf's eyes widened. The woman in black should have smelled of many things: perfume, fear, illness, sweat, or even that familiar prey scent of meat. Instead, Momiji could detect only a familiar scent that reminded her of oiled metal.

She ripped Nitori away from the fallen woman, tossing the petite _kappa_ behind a bookshelf. Spinning in place, an entire deck of spell cards glowed in Momiji's hand. "Stay back!" she barked.

"What's going on?" Nitori said, peering between books.

"She's not alive. She's like _him_." Momiji's hair bristled as she brandished her baton.

"Like who?"

"She smells like the Blue Djinn."

Nitori froze, pointing. "Momiji, look!" she hissed.

Momiji looked down into the now open eyes of the fallen women. "Who are you?" the woman and _tengu _growled in unison.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

Thanks go to Etherdrone and Kerreb17 for helping me with some of the details for this part.


End file.
